Hungry heron?

[mogsie]

Just had a phone call from a good friend to say the heron has cleaned his pond out early hours this morning, he says there was 23 fish yesterday, 5 large goldfish 5 small fish and the rest were medium sized, now he says he can only find 1 small fish left, would the heron be able to consume so much in one sitting?

 

[JohnHuff]

Some of them may be hiding. They can get scared after an attack. I lost a lot of fish over the years to heron and bobcat(s).

He needs to net his pond. I used to cover my pond with a flat wooden frame that was wrapped in bird netting but I found that the wood rotted over time so I switched over to PVC pipes. Finally I bought a small metal greenhouse frame from Amazon and put that over the pond and wrapped that with netting.

 

[RobAmy]

They can consume many fish during one sitting. I agree that a few may be hiding. When the heron comes by here I can't find any of my fish at all for many hours. Then they slowly get back to normal. Hopefully a few are left.

 

[mogsie]

yes you are correct, i was at his house earlier and we managed to find 8 that were hiding. he has now covered with chicken wire until he gets something more aesthetically pleasing. and it was stood right beside his heron decoy , which obviously doesnt work, infact i believe that using a plastic heron as a deterrant is more detrimental to the situation, just like humans the more the fish see humans the lass they percieve them as a threat, well i think the same applies to plastic herons, so when a real one does come along the fish will not at first see it as a threat.

 

[anitapond]

Some of them may be hiding. They can get scared after an attack. I lost a lot of fish over the years to heron and bobcat(s).

He needs to net his pond. I used to cover my pond with a flat wooden frame that was wrapped in bird netting but I found that the wood rotted over time so I switched over to PVC pipes. Finally I bought a small metal greenhouse frame from Amazon and put that over the pond and wrapped that with netting.

@JohnHuff - would love to see how or a detailed description of how you built the cover with the greenhouse frame. I've been wanting to make a cover like that, but have no idea how. Thanks!

 

[saugeye tom]

yes you are correct, i was at his house earlier and we managed to find 8 that were hiding. he has now covered with chicken wire until he gets something more aesthetically pleasing. and it was stood right beside his heron decoy , which obviously doesnt work, infact i believe that using a plastic heron as a deterrant is more detrimental to the situation, just like humans the more the fish see humans the lass they percieve them as a threat, well i think the same applies to plastic herons, so when a real one does come along the fish will not at first see it as a threat.

put a few stakes around your pond. Run 20 lb test fishing line at 6 inches 1 foot and 2 1/2 feet. they will not cross the line. i done this for 2 years,,,,took it down this year,,,,they stopped coming. if they come back,,,ill hang again

 

[mogsie]

put a few stakes around your pond. Run 20 lb test fishing line at 6 inches 1 foot and 2 1/2 feet. they will not cross the line. i done this for 2 years,,,,took it down this year,,,,they stopped coming. if they come back,,,ill hang again

It wasn't my pond it was a friends, i have fishing line round my pond and i even have a fishing line net 8ft high over the garden to prevent it even getting in.

 

[Relic]

I've had herons clean out the pond of each and every goldfish - adults & young. The only survivor was the large single Koi. Eventually a Japanese Maple grew large enough to form a canopy over the pond and hide it from fly-over marauders. I also added a couple of hiding places: a large inverted plastic tub with openings in it, and a large flagstone on top to weigh it down. I also added a milk-crate with a large potted pickerel plant on top to provide an easy hide for the smaller fish. So far, so good...(Yes, the maple leaves are a bother each autumn.)

 

[JohnHuff]

@JohnHuff - would love to see how or a detailed description of how you built the cover with the greenhouse frame. I've been wanting to make a cover like that, but have no idea how. Thanks!

Too dark to take a photo now but I just bought something like this from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075KJJSCY except that mine was shorter, only 2 segments, and wrapped it all around with bird netting. I used zip ties. Then I used PVC pipes to fashion 2 door frames for the front so I can walk in.

 

[JohnHuff]

... it was stood right beside his heron decoy , which obviously doesnt work, infact i believe that using a plastic heron as a deterrant is more detrimental to the situation, just like humans the more the fish see humans the lass they percieve them as a threat..

Interestingly, this sorta has the opposite effect for me. The more I see my mother-in-law, the more I perceive her as a threat.